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Virtusan App
#NSDR (Non-Sleep Deep Rest) with Dr. Andrew Huberman
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Transcription generated by Skrybot
Welcome to this 10-minute non-sleep deep rest protocol. Non-sleep deep rest is a powerful tool that can allow you to control the relaxation state of your nervous system and your overall state of mind. It takes advantage of the fact that specific forms of breathing place us into a state of deep relaxation by slowing our heart rate down. It also takes advantage of the fact that we can control our perception, that is, which sensations we are focused on. And by doing so, we can shift our brain state from thinking, from stress, from planning, from anticipation of any kind, positive or negative, to one of pure sensation and deep relaxation.
You'll want to do this protocol seated or lying down, so if you're not already seated or lying down, please do so now. You'll also want to close your eyes, so if your eyes aren't already closed, please close them now. Throughout this protocol, you'll want to breathe normally, unless instructed to do otherwise. One pattern of breath you'll be asked to do is to inhale deeply, ideally through your nose, but if you can't do it through your nose, inhale through your mouth. Try that now, and then exhale all of your air through your mouth. Let's do that again.
Inhale deeply through your nose or your mouth, and then exhale completely, and as you do that, exhale through thinly pursed lips, as if through a small straw. Repeat that two more times, and understand that long extended exhales through the mouth slow our heart rate down and relax our nervous system. Then you can go back to breathing normally. Now in your mind's eye, imagine yourself standing over yourself, looking down at your body, which is seated or lying down, and imagine holding a flashlight or a spotlight and directing that at your feet. Focus your attention on whatever it is that your feet happen to be in contact with. It could be socks, sandals, shoes, or merely the air.
It doesn't matter. Focus your attention specifically on the bottoms of your feet, and try and perceive whatever it is they are sensing. They could be tingling, could even be numb. It doesn't matter. Focus your attention specifically on the bottoms of your feet. Now imagine expanding that spotlight to include the tops of your feet, your shins, your calves. Expanding that spotlight further to include your thighs, your hamstrings, and up to your waist. Now with your entire lower body illuminated inside the beam of that spotlight, inhale deeply through your nose or through your mouth, and exhale completely through thinly pursed lips until your lungs are empty.
Repeat that twice more, and each time as you exhale, imagine your lower body sinking down about a centimeter into whatever surface they happen to be in contact with now. Now move the spotlight to your abdomen, and focus your attention on whatever it is that your abdomen is sensing. As you inhale, your stomach should move out slightly, and as you exhale, it should sink down. Expand the spotlight to include your upper abdomen, your chest, your neck, and now in your mind's eye, imagine that spotlight expanding to include your arms. Continue to breathe normally. Now focus your perception on whatever contact surface your back happens to be in contact with. A shirt, a chair, a sofa, it doesn't matter.
Simply focus on the contact points. Bring your attention and your perception to those points of contact. Inhale deeply through your nose or through your mouth, and as you exhale, imagine your back and your upper body sinking about a centimeter into whatever surface they're in contact with. Continue to breathe normally. Now move the spotlight up to include your face, the top of your head, and the back of your head, and as you continue to breathe normally, focus your perception on relaxing the muscles of your face. See if you can extend the duration of your exhales ever so slightly. See if you can extend the duration of your exhales ever so slightly.
And now in your mind's eye, expand the spotlight downward to include your neck, your chest, your arms, your abdomen, your waist, your legs, and down to your feet. Imagine yourself looking down at your own body, illuminated inside of the spotlight. And in your mind's eye, deliberately dim that spotlight. Make the illumination less intense. Inhale deeply again through your nose or through your mouth, and exhale completely through thinly pursed lips. And as you do so, imagine your entire body sinking into the surface that it's in contact with. Now, while continuing to breathe normally, move your toes ever so slightly. You'll notice that you are in control of your nervous system. You direct your perceptions and your actions.
Move your ankles, bend your knees just the slightest bit. You can move your upper body from side to side, your head from side to side, or even nod just a slight. Move your head from side to side or nod ever so slightly. Then move your hands, lift your arms a tiny bit, and set them down again. And now slowly open your eyes, and as you do so, you'll notice that normally your nervous system is bombarded with sensory information, mostly visual information, which you have eliminated during this non-sleep deep-rest protocol.
You are able to control your perception by focusing on your sensations, and you can control which sensations you perceive by directing that attentional spotlight to whatever part or parts or entirety of your body that you like. This is the remarkable power of your brain. It can direct your actions and your perceptions, and it can do so in order to bring your actions and perceptions into heightened states of alertness or, as you have done now during this non-sleep deep-rest protocol, to bring your brain and body into a state of deep relaxation. .
S K R Y B O T
Skrybot. 2023, Video transcriptions from YouTube
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